Contactors capable of separating fluids are known, for example see U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,220,535; 5,264,171; and 5,352,361, each is incorporated herein by reference. Those contactors consist of a perforated center tube, a plurality of hollow fibers surrounding the tube, tube sheets affixing the ends of the hollow fibers, a baffle located between the tube sheets, and a shell surrounding the tube, fibers, tube sheets, and baffle. The fibers, however, are not closed at the baffle, but instead are open, so that there is fluid communication through the hollow fiber lumen from one tube sheet to the other.
Contactors capable of separating fluids, for example, dissolved gas from water, have numerous industrial applications. Those applications include: rust prevention systems for boilers or power plant turbines; rust prevention systems for drinking water, cooling water, or hot water pipe lines; ultra-pure water sources for the electronics industry (e.g., rinsing semiconductor wafers during manufacture); ultrasonic cleaning processes; water sources for food processing; and the like.
Two of the foregoing applications are of particular interest. They are rust prevention in water pipe lines and ultra-pure water sources for the electronics industry. In each application, the removal of dissolved oxygen from water is extremely important. In rust prevention in water pipe lines, the oxygen reacts with dissolved iron or iron from the pipe line to form rust that may precipitate. In potable water, the rust precipitate is unattractive and causes staining; and in pipe lines, it can cause occlusion of the pipe. In ultra-pure water for the electronics industry, water is used to rinse semiconductor wafers during manufacture. Dissolved oxygen in the rinse water can etch the surface of the wafer and destroy it; it can also coat the wafer surface and prevent effective rinsing. Accordingly, the removal of dissolved gasses from water is extremely important.
Therefore, there is a need to develop new contactors and systems for degassing of liquids.